Meanwhile, for today, I'll start with the playground at Punggol park. It looks like the usual not so exciting playground but look closer and you'll find some interesting features.
Do not forsake the importance of ramps like this. It provides young children with an opportunity to explore gradients while high above the ground. Children as old as four may still lack confidence so high off the ground and caregeivers often have to follow them up the playgrounds to give added support. Stand at one end of the ramp and encourage your child to walk to you. Pick up some leaves on your way to the playground and as you are up there, encourage your child to come take the leaves (one at a time) from you and bring it to another end to stack it up or display.
This playground is really quite suitable for four years and above and continues to be a challenge for the older kids. There are many different challenging ways of getting up to the platform and the whole system is quite a maze. Excellent for challenging a child's sense of space and problem solving and planning. So, observe and see if your child is always going up the same stair way and coming down the same slide. Discourage such patterns and challenge them to find other ways to get from one point to another.
Remember, ladders and slides are as much for climbing up as it is for climbing down!
There are also various types of "bridges" for crossing and this is good training again for planning and also for balance.
And if you think that these ropes can only be bridges, then sit back at one of the benches surrounding the playgrounds and observe how the kids play for 15 minutes. The below simply illustrates one of the many other ways...
More to come on Punggol Park....
